Family/Housing:
———-
find a church
take Beth on a date at least 6 times.
observe a ‘no TV’ night every week
oversee the construction of our new house

Fitness:
———-
cycle with Beth 20-ish or more miles three or more times in 2014
run a sub-20 minute 5k
strength train at least 30 minutes 2 or 3 days every week.
take a few boxing lessons before beginning boxing related cross training workouts
get a heavy punching bag for our workout room at the new house
Look into cycle trainers – use our own bikes on a stationary platform that provides [variable] resistance.

Diet:
———-
eat no desserts on nights Beth works.
drink no pop in January and February.

Comments:
———-
Dialing back my enthusiasm for structured model railroad hobby goals and marathoning. I’m not saying I’m done with running marathons, I just want to have the time to commit to be sure I can break 4:00. This year does not look like it will lend itself to that. Also, treadmill boredom and a lifelong of curiosity have lead me to resolve to explore boxing. As a late-30 something, this might well be called crazy, but so can be running 26.2 miles.

Ugh. I only did one of these things in 2013. I knew that this list was a little aggressive when I wrote it, but then when I wrote it, we weren’t expecting twin baby daughters, either. Not that I blame Twin A and Twin B, or The Boy 2.5 for my failure in these items. Many of which were and are fully within my control.

So, at least my wife would have said at the in the first half of the year that I was on a great trajectory.

Take my wife on a date at least 6 times. Done.

Run a marathon in less than 4 hours.

Weigh less than 200 lbs at Marathon start time.

Eat no desserts on nights Beth works.

Have a photo published in Model Railroader’s Trackside Photos section.

Those of you that know me have been following the wild ride that Mrs. Dakotabranch and I have been on this summer and early fall. The end result of this will be very positive. However, there is some unavoidable short term unpleasantness associated with our situation.

Due to our situation, I’ll be sitting out this year’s Sioux Falls half-marathon. I never planned to run the whole marathon, but was looking forward to a 13.1, or Harry as some people call it. Half the distance, twice the fun?

But not when you have the crud in your lungs during the week before the race, as I do right now. It has been there since 8/22.

That brings me to my next point, which is the importance of keeping a running log. I use an Excel spreadsheet. I know some people like to use those fancy-schmancy ones from their Garmin, RunKeeper, iPhone, whatever. I’ve found that I can enter data about how I feel, how well certain clothing works in the cold weather and info about new shoes. This spreadsheet helps me recall how long I’ve been under the weather.

This stuff doesn’t plot on a graph well, but it sure is nice to have. The process of updating it doesn’t become a burden because I’m motivated to see how many miles I’ve got left this month. So I’m never more than a day or two late putting in run data.

All this in addition to having the benefit of motivating me to run the miles I want to. Last year was the first year I recorded every run. I almost made 1,300 miles in 2012. We’ll see what The Twins have to say about 1,200 in 2013 when they are born. Right now I’m on pace to easily make that number by new year’s eve.

Junior is just starting to walk. The Boy 14.75 mo. is taking a couple of steps at a time every other day or so.

I’m still cutting my teeth in WordPress customization and branding. I uploaded a handful of new header images, mostly shot with my old point and shoot camera. All of these models have some level of customization to them.

I was just telling someone the other day about how much of a blast the 2012 Mickelson Trail Trek was. Yes, it is in the books. I didn’t end up being cat food. Some photos here.

Starting to look forward to spring marathon season. Not sure if I’ll have time to do one, but I’m riding a wave of enthusiasm from the ride on the Big Mick. I’m sure that could easily translate to a good showing on the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon. June 2013. If you gave me a long run this weekend and three weeks of taper, I’m pretty sure I could do it if it were in November.